Go, "Crusher"! Go!

Repeat offenders could kiss goodbye to their vehicles forever, now the government's getting tough on illegal street racing. Prime Minister, John Key, says he wants boy racer cars off New Zealand's roads. The prized possession of a street racer could end up a crushed cube of metal under new laws.

The eyes have it...

Some boy racers taunt that it's easier said than done....difficult maybe, but Police Minister Judith “Crusher” Collins has set about earning her nickname. Under new laws, three offences - like burnouts and skids - over four years means the car is heading to the crusher. Illegal street racing kills on average 10 people a year and the government says the social cost of $30 million is unacceptable.
Hear, hear! Personally I'd not only crush their cars after an even shorter timeframe than four years, but I'd amend the laws so that boy-racers would have to push the crusher button themselves, and watch their “penis extensions” pulverised.
Or maybe adopt an Darwinian process: fence off an area where boy-racers can do their stuff, put some big strong telephone poles in there, park a few disused trucks and railway carriages as well...those who out-drive their or their cars' capabilities won't be bothering society again.
By the way, I've met Judith a number of times and aside from having eyes you could drown in, she has sincerity, commitment, integrity... if this initiative can be done, she'll do it!
PS - for more on this, check 'Richard Phelps' Lifestream (his May 2009 post).

Could They Somehow Be Related? #2

Yusuf Islam, the artist formerly known as Cat Stevens, has another damn nice-sounding album out: "Roadsinger".
However, when watching the video clip of the first single Thinking 'bout You, I was struck by the similarity between Yusuf and one of the guys from ZZ Top!
Now I'm not 100% sure whether the guy on the right is Billy Gibbons or Dusty Hill...or maybe The Artist Formerly Known As...!

Savings' Double-Edged Sword

Economists say the only way we can get our finances in better shape is to save more and spend less.
Economists also tell us that the way to get the country's economy stronger is to have people spend more - and therefore save less.
So basically we should all be spending more AND saving more.
Yeah, right…what a wonderful mixed message: the government encourages us to save, though its incentive-loaded KiwiSaver scheme – while at the same time wanting us to fuel the “return to the black” by buying stuff.
Call me a cynical ol' basket (you won't be the first!), but I don't feel it's my responsibility to spend and spend for the sake of the country's economy. I'm being very careful with my dollars, for the sake of my own economy: I do not intend to be a casualty of the recession.
Sadly, if the economy really does rely on people continually buying stuff they don't need, something seems wrong.
Or have I simply missed the point?